The Kenya Defence Force (KDF) has commenced facelift and construction of classrooms in ten primary schools in insecurity-prone regions of Laikipia County as a strategy to restore permanent peace in the affected areas.
Defence Principal Secretary Patrick Mariru, while commissioning the constructions on Saturday, said the classrooms would be ready for occupation in the next two months, adding that the directive has been issued by President William Ruto.
“The President ordered that bandits should be wiped out in Mukogodo forest and schools adjacent to the forest be improved. The head of State wants students to have a conducive learning environment,” said the PS after commissioning the construction of Ngenia Comprehensive dormitories.
Expansion of facilities in the schools that offer boarding facilities aims at boosting enrollment and promoting retention as a way of discouraging youths who drop out of school from engaging in criminal activities.
Most of the schools earmarked in the project border the expansive Mukogodo Forest in Laikipia North Constituency, where adjacent villages have over the years borne the brunt of banditry attacks, leading to loss of lives, livestock theft and destruction of property.
The insecurity has in the past claimed the life of a chief and several National Police Reservists, prompting residents to flee from the area, resulting in school dropouts.
Recently, a multi-agency security force was deployed into the forest to flush out the criminals, who had turned the area into their hideouts and where they frequently carried out armed raids targeting business premises and livestock.
Area MP Sarah Korere said she reached out to the head of state seeking support from KDF, pointing out that the National Government Constituency Development Fund is not sufficient to cover infrastructural needs for all the schools in the region.
Apart from school infrastructure improvements in the pastoral areas, the MP said that water scarcity was being addressed through borehole drilling in the learning institutions.
By Muturi Mwangi
